Her comments come near the end of a Rolling Stone profile that establishes her, like many of the most elite athletes, as not the most likable person on Earth. That personality trait seems a requirement, really, to have the competitive fire to want to be No. 1 in anything. Still, there's a difference between diffidence to your opponents on the court, and to the human race in general. I've bolded the "I'm not... but..." part:

We watch the news for a while, and the infamous Steubenville rape case flashes on the TV – two high school football players raped a drunk 16-year-old, while other students watched and texted details of the crime. Serena just shakes her head. "Do you think it was fair, what they got? They did something stupid, but I don't know. I'm not blaming the girl, but if you're a 16-year-old and you're drunk like that, your parents should teach you: Don't take drinks from other people. She's 16, why was she that drunk where she doesn't remember? It could have been much worse. She's lucky. Obviously, I don't know, maybe she wasn't a virgin, but she shouldn't have put herself in that position, unless they slipped her something, then that's different."

In there is a sad, sad, grain of truth: given what some guys are capable of, I HAVE cautioned my teenage daughter about what and what not to do in party situations, particularly about taking an open drink from a stranger. But still, you, whether or not you're the world's biggest tennis star, have to be careful about even insinuating a rape victim was at any fault. In the end, no matter how much she had to drink, or what skirt she wore, or what someone thought they heard her say earlier, a rape victim is that -- a victim.

Williams, who was awarded the top seeding at Wimbledon on Wednesday [June 19], released a statement ... apologising for the controversial comments. "What happened in Steubenville was a real shock for me," she said. "I was deeply saddened.

"For someone to be raped, and at only sixteen, is such a horrible tragedy! For both families involved - that of the rape victim and of the accused.

"I am currently reaching out to the girl's family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written - what I supposedly said - is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame."

Williams added: "I have fought all of my career for women's equality, women's equal rights, respect in their fields - anything I could do to support women I have done. My prayers and support always goes out to the rape victim. In this case, most especially, to an innocent sixteen-year-old child."

I'm not saying it's almost always a bad idea to start a sentence "I'm not" with the punchline coming after "but," but... well, yes I am.